How Raiders Look to Use Short Week Efficiently

The Las Vegas Raiders will face the Kansas City Chiefs for the second time in about a month. They must make the most of their short week of preparation to have a shot at pulling off the upset.

Nov 24, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders running back Ameer Abdullah (8) scores on a 6-yard touchdown reception against Denver Broncos linebacker Jonah Elliss (52) in the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders will take on the Kansas City Chiefs on the road Friday. It will be the second time they have faced the defending Super Bowl champions in less than a month and they will face them with less time than normal to prepare.

Facing Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs is always difficult, doing so twice in such a short span is even more difficult. Raiders defensive coordinator explained the importance of the players taking care of their bodies during the days leading up to the game.

“The way I learned it, these short weeks, and I’m about to go in there and explain to the players, you take care of your physical in terms of getting your body right and make sure you're focused on that,” Graham said. “Make sure you're taking care of emotionally getting up for the game, because it's an emotional game. They got to get up for that. 

“And I said, you really got to trust me here in terms of the mental part, in terms of tendencies and things of that nature. I'm going to try to streamline it so that you're not overdoing it. You know, we got to kind of build them through there. And so, it's kind of a combination. I'm here to help. The coaches are here to help with part of the mental part. 

Graham also noted that the players must take care of themselves mentally and emotionally, as the division game against the Chiefs is always an emotional one.

This is in addition to the fact that the players are away from their families on Thanksgiving to face the Chiefs after being away from their families on Christmas last season to face the Chiefs.

“But, for me, it’s about the players getting their bodies ready for the game and really getting emotionally ready for the game, in terms of getting up for a contest like this, where there's a division opponent, it's a holiday, you're on the road, there's going to be some excitement," Graham said. "You got to emotionally be ready to go for that. And then, I got to charge back up, too. It's the same thing. It's a shorter week, and you got to charge back up to be ready for that. So, that's a big part of it." 

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